Sequence N°: 2

Title: Management and Organizations

Objectives:
In this course we will focus on helping students get the most out of their
Manager ; management and organization by making practice simple with new
opportunities for self-guided practice and allow students to check their
knowledge of management concepts, skills.......

Why Are Managers Important?

“ . . . A great boss can change your life, inspiring you to new heights both
professionally and personally, and energizing you and your team to together
overcome new challenges bigger than any one of you could tackle alone.” If
you’ve had the opportunity to work with a manager like this, count yourself
lucky. Such a manager can make a job a lot more enjoyable and productive.
However, even managers who don’t live up to such lofty ideals and expectations
are important to organizations. Let’s look at three reasons why.
The first reason managers are important is that organizations need their
managerial skills and abilities more than ever in these uncertain, complex, and
chaotic times. As organizations deal with today’s challenges—the worldwide
economic climate, changing technology, ever increasing globalization, and so
on—managers play an important role in identifying critical issues and crafting
responses. The skills and abilities as a manager have been crucial in guiding his
organization through these challenging times.
Another reason managers are important to organizations is that they’re critical
to getting things done. Although they needed the job as manager is to ensure
that all the employees are getting their jobs done so the organization can do what
it’s in business to do. If work isn’t getting done or isn’t getting done as it should
be, also the one who must find out why and get things back on track.
Finally, managers do matter to organizations! How do we know that? The
Organization, which has polled millions of employees and tens of thousands of
managers, has found that the single most important variable in employee
productivity and loyalty isn’t pay or benefits or workplace environment; it’s the
quality of the relationship between employees and their direct supervisors. In
addition, global consulting firm Towers Watson found that the way a company
manages and engages its people can significantly affect its financial
performance. Also, a recent study of organizational performance found that

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managerial ability was important in creating organizational value.What can we
conclude from such reports? That managers are important and they do matter!
Who Are Managers and Where Do They Work?

Managers may not be who or what you might expect! Managers can be under
the age of 18 to over age 80. They run large corporations as well as
entrepreneurial start-ups. They’re found in government departments, hospitals,
small businesses, not-for-profit agencies, museums, schools, and even such
nontraditional organizations as political campaigns and music tours. Managers
can also be found doing managerial work in every country on the globe. In
addition, some managers are top-level managers while others are first-line
managers. And today, managers are just as likely to be women as they are
men. . . . managers have exciting and challenging jobs!
Who Is a Manager?

It used to be fairly simple to define who managers were: They were the
organizational members who told others what to do and how to do it. It was easy
to differentiate managers from nonmanagerial employees. Now, it isn’t quite
that simple. In many organizations, the changing nature of work has blurred the
distinction between managers and nonmanagerial employees. Many traditional
nonmanagerial jobs now include managerial activities. For example, managerial
responsibilities are shared by managers and team members and most of the
employees are cross-trained and multi-skilled. Within a single shift, an
employee can be a team leader, equipment operator, maintenance technician,
quality inspector, or improvement planner.
So, how do we define who managers are? A manager is someone who
coordinates and oversees the work of other people so that organizational goals
can be accomplished. A manager’s job is not about personal achievement—it’s
about helping others do their work.
That may mean coordinating the work of a departmental group, or it might mean
supervising a single person. It could involve coordinating the work activities of
a team with people from different departments or even people outside the
organization, such as temporary employees or individuals who work for the
organization’s suppliers. Keep in mind, also, that managers may have work
duties not related to coordinating and overseeing others’ work. For example, an
insurance claims supervisor might process claims in addition to coordinating the
work activities of other claims clerks.

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Is there a way to classify managers in organizations? In traditionally structured
organizations (which are often pictured as a pyramid because more employees
are at lower organizational levels than at
upper organizational levels), managers can be classified as first-line, middle, or
top. (See Exhibit 1-1.) At the lowest level of management, first-line managers
manage the work of nonmanagerial employees who typically are involved with
producing the organization’s products or servicing the organization’s customers.
First-line managers may be called supervisors or even shift managers, district
managers, department managers, or office managers. Middle managers
manage the work of first-line managers and can be found between the lowest
and top levels of the organization. They may have titles such as regional
manager, project leader, store manager, or division manager. As the general
manager company-wide who report to someone at corporate headquarters. At
the upper levels of the organization are the top managers, who are responsible
for making organization-wide decisions and establishing the plans and goals
that affect the entire organization. These individuals typically have titles such as
executive vice president, president, managing director, chief operating officer,
or chief executive officer.

Not all organizations get work done with a traditional pyramidal form, however.
Some organizations, for example, are more loosely configured with work being
done by ever-changing teams of employees who move from one project to
another as work demands arise. Although it’s not as easy to tell who the
managers are in these organizations, we do know that someone must fulfill that
role—that is, there must be someone who coordinates and oversees the work of
others, even if that “someone” changes as work tasks or projects change.
Where Do Managers Work?
It’s obvious that managers do their work in organizations. But what is an
organization? It’s a deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some
specific purpose. Your college or university is an organization;, government

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departments, mosques, Facebook, your neighborhood grocery store ………. All
are considered organizations and have three common characteristics. (See
Exhibit 1-2.) First, an organization has a distinct purpose. This purpose is
typically expressed through goals that the organization hopes to accomplish.
Second, each organization is composed of people. It takes people to perform the
work that’s necessary for the organization to achieve its goals. Third, all
organizations develop some deliberate structure within which members do their
work.

That structure may be open and flexible, with no specific job duties or strict
adherence to explicit job arrangements. For instance, at Google, most big
projects, of which there are hundreds going on at the same time, are tackled by
small focused employee teams that set up in an instant and complete work just
as quickly. Or the structure may be more traditional—like with clearly defined
rules, regulations, job descriptions, and some members identified as “bosses”
who have authority over other members.
Many of today’s organizations are structured more like Google, with flexible
work arrangements, employee work teams, open communication systems, and
supplier alliances. In these organizations, work is defined in terms of tasks to be
done. And workdays have no time boundaries since work can—and is—done
anywhere, anytime .

Why Study Management?

You may be wondering why you need to study management. If you’re majoring
in accounting or marketing or any field other than management, you may not
understand how studying management is going to help you in your career. We
can explain the value of studying management by looking at three things: the
universality of management, the reality of work, and the rewards and challenges
of being a manager

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